who is he?
Ansel Easton Adams was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advocating “pure” photography which favoured sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph
childhood
When Adams was twelve he taught himself to play the piano and read music. Soon he was taking lessons, and the ardent pursuit of music became his substitute for formal schooling. For the next dozen years the piano was Adams’s primary occupation and, by 1920, his intended profession. Although he ultimately gave up music for photography, the piano brought substance, discipline, and structure to his frustrating and erratic youth. Moreover, the careful training and exacting craft required of a musician profoundly informed his visual artistry, as well as his influential writings and teachings on photography. Ansel Adams had problems fitting in at school. Some problems were due to a natural shyness and some were due to a physical issue (an “earthquake nose” as he called it – his nose was broken during an earthquake). It is also possible that he may have dealt with hyperactivity or dyslexia.
inspiration
For Adams, the environmental issues of particular importance were Yosemite national park the national park system, and above all, the preservation of wilderness. He focused on what he termed the spiritual-emotional aspects of parks and wilderness and relentlessly resisted the Park Service’s “resorts,” which had led to the over development of the national parks and their domination by private concessionaires.
sierra club
In 1919 he joined the Sierra Club and spent the first of four summers in Yosemite valley, as “keeper” of the club’s LeConte Memorial Lodge. He became friends with many of the club’s leaders, who were founders of America’s nascent conservation movement. He met his wife, Virginia Best, in Yosemite; they were married in 1928. The couple had two children.
what else did he do
In 1940 he helped found the first curatorial department devoted to photography as an art form at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1946 he established at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) the first academic department to teach photography as a profession.
During the 1930s, Adams began to deploy his photographs in the cause of wilderness preservation.
Kings Canyon is among all national parks, at the highest risk from air pollution – they both have significant levels of concerns in all three air categories: Unhealthy Air, Hazy Skies and Harm to Nature.
Adams lobbied Congress for a Kings Canyon National Park, the Club’s priority issue in the 1930s, and created an impressive, limited-edition book, Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail, which influenced both Interior Secretary Harold Ickes and President Franklin Roosevelt to embrace the Kings Canyon Park idea.
visualisation
The term visualization refers to the entire emotional-mental process of creating a photograph, and as such, it is one of the most important concepts in photography.” — Ansel Adams. I’ve become increasingly aware of the power of visualization over the years.
zone system
The Zone System is a photographic technique for determining optimal film exposure and development, formulated by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer.
Image analysis
technical:
by shooting black and white, he was able to enhance the dramatic shadows, and manipulate reality in a way, positioning the viewer closer to his envisioned image. . Ansel Adams made this image in 1938 during an outing with friends in the Yosemite backcountry with a 3″ x 4″ camera. he has clearly waited in this spot for a gap in the clouds to create the effect that he has achieved.
Visual:
the colour of this photo is in black and white, you can see the lighting reflect off the river. you can see the lines from the shadows of the trees in the distance reflecting on the river
contextual:
The image of “Cathedral Peak and Lake,” taken during the journey, perhaps best encapsulates the irony of the expedition. It’s a striking depiction of the danger and grandeur of the High Sierra, capturing the resolute Cathedral Peak standing proudly before a dark swell of gathering clouds
conceptual:
The story behind Ansel Adams’ “Cathedral Peak and Lake” brings us back to the long friendship formed between Ansel and renowned artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Perhaps no two artists have had a greater impact on the cultural imagination of America’s wilderness. Though Ansel’s medium was photography while O’Keeffe’s was painting, both, in their own way, captured the style, emotion, and drama of exploring the landscapes of America. It’s no surprise that they were not only great admirers of each other’s artistic works, but close friends and frequent companions.
The image of “Cathedral Peak and Lake,” taken during the journey, perhaps best encapsulates the irony of the expedition. It’s a striking depiction of the danger and grandeur of the High Sierra, capturing the resolute Cathedral Peak standing proudly before a dark swell of gathering clouds. The dark shadows that fall across the top of the peak, barren of even the scrubby pines that dot the lower reaches of the mountain, convey the ruggedness of climbing it, apparent even from across the icy lake.
what camera did he use?
Deardorf 8×10 View Camera